Watching the Spokane River Thunder Past

In my last post, I introduced Riverfront Park and the Riverwalk in Spokane, both of which are star attractions.  But I’ve yet to describe the real highlight of the park, the river itself.

As I ambled through Riverfront Park on the first evening of my visit, I gradually became aware of a thunderous roar.  My first assumption, as the sound slowly intruded on my consciousness, was there was a large generator or manufacturing plant nearby.  I was wrong.  It was the Spokane River at its springtime peak.

Many cities were founded near waterfalls because the falling water offered convenient power for 19th century mills.  But I suspect few large cities have the display of raw power shown by the Spokane River where it flows past Riverfront Park.

The river cascades through a set of three closely spaced falls within a short walk of downtown.  The upper falls are a nice starter piece, especially against the backdrop of buildings of the side of the river opposite Riverfront Park.

But it’s the middle falls that are breathtaking. For scale, note that those are real people on the suspension bridge above the tumbling waters.  And from my time on the bridge, I know that those people were barely able to converse above the roar.

I was lucky in my timing for viewing the falls.  Through later research, I learned the peak flow that springtime occurred on the exact day that I visited.  Also, the peak flow was 22,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), compared to an average springtime peak of 19,000 cfs.  (For further comparison, the average flow over Niagara Falls is about ten times greater than the flow I watched over Spokane Falls.  But 22,000 cfs is still a lot of water, especially when viewed from a bridge suspended above the falls.)

Continuing downstream, I was struck by the early evening sky and trailing cloud edge over the diversion dam at the lower falls.

The City of Spokane generates power using the elevation drop across all three falls, but the hydroelectric plants don’t have the capacity to capture the springtime peaks.  It’s not financially justified to build extra plant capacity to utilize a flow that only occurs for a week or two each year.  Instead the public can enjoy the spectacle.

The following morning, I took the Riverwalk in the other direction, upriver toward the campus of Gonzaga University.  I was again reminded what a marvelous resource the Riverwalk is, at least on a warm and sunny Sunday morning.  It’s a 12-foot ribbon of asphalt filled with jogging students, ambling senior citizens, and everyone in between enjoying the natural setting.

One of the first sights was the Gonzaga’s Jundt Art Center, viewed across the river.   Further upstream, the river looped around a rocky point covered with quietly elegant condominiums, many with private gates onto the Riverwalk.

The upstream section of the Riverwalk lacks the intensity of Spokane Falls, but provides an effective counterpoint.  Riverfront Park and the Riverwalk combine to give Spokane remarkable urban amenities.

As always, your questions or comments will be appreciated.  Please comment below or email me.  And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)

Spokane and a Fine Urban Park

A few years ago, my wife and I spent a weekend in Spokane, Washington.  The reason for the trip was the high school graduation of the daughter of one of my wife’s oldest friends.  But I used the opportunity to snoop around downtown Spokane.

To my delight, I found a park that would be an asset to any city.  Spokane hosted the 1974 World Expo on a site between the historical downtown and the Spokane River.  Many of the improvements from that endeavor remain in place as Riverfront Park.  But it wasn’t only the remnants of Expo ’74 that made Riverfront Park special, it was the setting along the river and the drama that the river brings to the park.

Nor was the park the only outstanding public amenity.  Spokane also offers walking paths along both banks of the river.  The paths connect much of the community to Gonzaga University and the downtown.  Collectively, the paths are known as the Riverwalk.

 

Luckily, my wife had booked a hotel along the Riverwalk.  We were in town less than two days, but I found time to take three outings along the Riverwalk, all of them enjoyable and insightful.

 

For our first outing, we took the Riverwalk to Riverfront Park and then veered toward downtown.  While my wife did pre-graduation chores, I watched the community play on quirky park sculptures and cavort in the fountain at the park entrance, celebrating a warm and glorious Saturday after a snowy winter.

 

I rejoined my wife for a quick tour of downtown and its fine early 20th century architecture.

 

That evening, I returned to Riverfront Park, this time wandering into the heart of the park.  There are two focal points. The U.S. Pavilion at Expo was a large tent-like structure with steel cables and a canvas cover. The canvas was no match for Spokane winters and is long gone, but the center column and cables remain, marking an amusement area.

But it’s a clocktower that provides a more elegant, traditional statement of place, providing a connection back to European plazas.  As I continued my evening stroll, I found the clocktower a frequent presence, presenting different aspects as I viewed it from different angles.

There is a change in texture and color about halfway up the tower, similar to the Washington Monument.  I expect there’s an interesting story to explain the color break, but our time in Spokane was too short to ask many questions.

From the clocktower, I wandered toward the feature that truly made the park special.  However, I’ll defer that story until my next post.

But before closing today, I should write something about Riverfront Park versus the size of Spokane.  Some people have argued that Petaluma and other North Bay cities need their own versions of New York City’s Central Park.  I’ve generally disagreed, suggesting that the cities are too small to support parks of that scope.

Riverfront Park somewhat undermines my argument.  It’s an impressive place for a city the size of Spokane.  But I still don’t believe there’s good application to Petaluma or other North Bay cities.

At over 200,000 people, Spokane at is far bigger than Petaluma and most North Bay cities.  The only North Bay equivalent to Spokane is Santa Rosa and, for at least two reasons, I’m not convinced that even Santa Rosa can support a Riverfront Park equivalent.

As one point, Riverfront Park benefits from the planning and improvements that went into Expo ’74.  Given the costs of mounting a World Expo, I can’t seriously argue that a North Bay city follow that path, even if a result were to be a great urban park.

Second, and even more significant to me, I don’t know the extent to which Riverfront Park claims resources that could be directed to other uses in Spokane.

During the remainder of our Spokane weekend, we noted many districts in which public investment would be helpful.  Without digging into the municipal budget, I don’t know the extent to which the maintenance costs for Riverfront Park preclude those investments, but I’m dubious that Riverfront Park, no matter how glorious, is the best on-going investment for Spokane.

So, as much as I enjoyed Riverfront Park, I don’t believe that it’s a burden I’d wish to impose on a North Bay city.

As always, your questions or comments will be appreciated.  Please comment below or email me.  And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)